Today I was riding along one of the many wide cycle paths in Edinburgh which goes along one of the old railway lines. I was riding beside my son and we were having a good wee chat about life and taking up about a third of the path. Coming the other way was a middle aged man with his dog which was running about all over the place off the lead. As we pass the dog and man he shouts “single file you ***t”

Not being one to not react to aggression I stopped and asked him what he said. He didn’t repeat it. Then I asked him what made him think that we should be riding single file on a cycle path. He said that it wasn’t a cycle path. Then when he said that it wasn’t a cycle path I pointed to the big blue bike sign that he was standing next to. I then asked him if he was proud of his actions swearing at children. This wound him up no end so I cycled off laughing with my son. I then turned it into a lesson in how to make someones argument disappear into the ether, be explaining that if you keep on asking idiots to explain their opinions then before long you make then look like the idiots they are and that it’s funny.

😀

Did the Hellvellyn ridge a few years ago & some Redsock (with about 20 others pipes up, ‘you shouldn’t be on here, youre making a mess off the footpath’. There was 4 of us & it was a bridleway.
I was almost speechless, but not quite.

The axle deep rut hidden in the grass last night.

The bike stopped in it’s tracks. I stopped a little later.

I often meet idiots by me on the path network, much like you did today.

It is mostly folk with dogs off leads they can’t control.

Very irritating!

Good on you to belittle him 1-0 😉

I’ve had this out by the RBS path at Gogarburn. Some clown literally jumping about in front of me shouting ‘get off the pavement!’ . I stopped, silently pointed at the blue bike sign on the lamp post behind him and then at the bike painted on the Tarmac he was actually standing on and slowly cycled towards him, at which point he got out of the way. 🙄

I got told I shouldn’t be riding my bike on the footpath I was on by a man sitting on a horse.

Was it a high one?

I got shouted at to “get a bell” for no reason …..on the deeside way by some old geezer.

To which i retorted with my mega horn as i passed.

No time to give him the time of day for being an ass hole.

Watch out for the dog!
It’s a shared path and it’s not my dog!!!!??*^^**??!!!

Today as a white van passed me the passenger shouted out the window “you should be on the footpath!”

Erm..

“Where’s your bell?”

“Ding-a-****ing-ling!”

A good many years ago now, when I was spending as much time as possible in western Canada and on this occasion spending a good few days biking in Kananaskis.

Was hurtling along a sweet piece of singletrack, round a bend to see a Grizzly munching on some plants some 30 yards or so ahead. I screeched to a halt, it looked up, I looked at it, it looked at me, we looked at each other. Both of us wide eyed and startled, my then partner then came to a similarly screeching stop beside me, which thankfully, made it decide to sprint off into the undergrowth. It took us a good little while before we continued on!

A little later on that ride, we also came across a Timber Wolf paw print in the mud on the trail, I remember the size of the imprint dwarfing my outstretched hand when I put it beside it. Big dogs!

Riding, hiking and camping where I’m not number 1 in the food chain makes me kinda nervous at times!

Snakes normally stop me dead in my tracks.

I was out with my dad on the farm one day and found a couple of ramblers about 1 mile off the foot path, asked them how they were doing and if they were lost, nope all fine, asking them to point out where they were on their map was quite funny as they had just gone through a wood and and few other things that were nicely marked on the map.

Badgers, twice.

“Slow the f*** down” from a pedestrian waiting to cross at some lights while I was on the road. Eh naw mate, see those big shiny metal things, they’re the ones you have to worry about.

Many many years ago (1993 to be precise ) I was riding round kentmere,there was a beck that opened up into a pool and in said pool were to scantily clad young lady’s ( bra and knickers) swimming ,thought it would be rude not to join them so I jumped in .took me a while to catch up with my riding buddy’s an hour or so later but a-ho I had fun lol

Doggers usually startle me on night rides. I then pay them back by illuminating them with 4 million Chinese lumen to put them off their stroke.

Couple of years ago riding down the delph nine locks whizzed passed a naked woman bouncing up and down on a fella just off the towpath.Nearly fell in the cut.

Slackalice, you are officially hardcore in my books.
Would a Timber Wolf ever attack you do you think?

Nearly fell in the cut.

I hope that’s not a typo.

A fox cub. On those same cycle paths (near fiveways).

Last summer, while staying in Torridon I rode back to my tent from the pub in the gloaming, looking up to the path from Annat that I’d ridden that day, glanced back and caught a full grown stag standing in the middle road about 20 feet in front of me. I didn’t have a bell to ring.

I didn’t see it, but i saw pics taken of a Wallaby on the trails at Woburn Yesterday!!

(not sure if it was going “full enduro” or not…….)

This fat phocker;

Timber Wolf you say. This stopped me in my tracks, those made by 2.3 inch tyres in the pic… We ran into a recently dead black bear a couple of miles further on. Just shot, still leaking, still warm…

A Nissan Nivara about an hour ago, overtaking a parked car on a narrow road. In response to my dismay at a near head on collision I was duly informed I should have stopped to allow him to pass, and while speeding off that I am apparently a dick-head. 😕